Knock on wood
by thesheepishchild
Summary: When the crew is attacked by the flu Zoro hides his sickness from the rest of the crew.Will a certain hothead find out why the swordsman loves to be in pain?
1. Chapter 1

In the middle of the desert several pale pirates were lying on the floor. Numerous moans were heard and three bodies hurriedly moved around.

Chopper, Nami, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji were all groaning and trying to fall asleep. They were all the victims of a bad flu that was going around Alabasta. Ace, Zoro, and Vivi all hurried to their friends when they called for water or to give them a dose of medicine.

On the third day Luffy and Chopper were all better. They were a big help for the tired trio who had not rested for days. Chopper noticed Zoro had dark rings under his eyes and ordered him to go to bed early. Zoro was in fact really tired, all day he had to stop and try not to pass out. His legs were shaking badly as he handed Nami her dosage of medicine she noticed his shaking but groaned "My vision is still shaky" Zoro almost laughed at his luck but his severe headache stopped him. Chopper had told Zoro to go to bed a second time and Zoro was going to protest when a heavy hand rested on his weak shoulder. He almost fell from the impact but steadied and looked up to see Ace.

"Go ahead Zoro Luffy will help me. It looks like you need a good rest anyways."  
With that said he gently pushed Zoro to his tent. Zoro went to the tent and grimaced how he would have to sleep there.

He remembered at first how everyone had fought for the tent that Ace had brought with him but even one minute in there with Ace was like an inferno. The girls had finally won but when Nami fell ill Vivi gave the tent to Ace and Zoro saying she had missed the desert night sky.

Zoro sluggishly went to his mat and fell like dead weight to the ground. His body felt heavy and that annoying headache would not go away. He saw his vision begin to blur and his body was rocked with chills that would not end. He heard something and looked for the source of the sound and found it upon himself. His teeth were chattering like crazy and Zoro couldn't stop them

He cursed. He knew he should've been resting with the crew but right now they needed him and he having the flu also didn't matter. Zoro grabbed Aces mat and covered himself with it. He had the flu before anyone else but he kept it to himself. When more than half of his crew fell ill he ignored his sickness and helped Ace and Vivi. At night when Ace was dead asleep his body was tackled with shivers and hot flashes all in the same minute. When No one was looking he grabbed the medicine and took a double dosage. He didn't get it; he had faked being well before. He was even bitten by the same bug on his bleeding ankles that gave Nami that horrible sickness. Granted he wasn't as sick as Nami but he was pretty bad. No one knew this and he hoped No one would. Another chill ran through his body and his body clenched in a ball to gather any heat he could get. He suddenly felt someone pick him up by the shoulders and he was gripped by his chin to look at Ace right in his furious eyes.

"Oi Think very carefully before you answer ...are...you...sick?"

OH SHIT


	2. Chapter 2

"Are...you...sick? He spaced out the question to match his attitude.

Zoro looked away and nodded.

"Ahh baka ...I knew it to but I just shrugged it off damn." Ace face palmed him

While Ace babbled on another chill racked Zoro's body and hit directly in his weak stomach. He grabbed his orange headband and pressed it against his mouth. He shut his eyes and felt the bile come up. He shook Ace off and ran outside to empty his stomach. When he was done throwing up he was shivering when Ace came to his side. Ace took the boy and helped back into the tent. Still shivering Ace held him close to his chest and threw his arm over his shoulder. Ace felt bad for the kid, he thought Zoro was sick but he just shook the feeling off and let the kid suffer. Zoro pressed against Ace. He was like an open fire and Zoro leaned in feeling his tired body reach its limit. His face hit Aces shoulder and welcomed the fire touch.  
Ace clicked his tongue

"Hey your burning up I don't think you should be close to me."

He tried to push away the swordsman but immediately he started to shake. Regretting his action he hastily pulled Zoro back. He moved so fast that Zoro's forehead connected with his nose and blood splatter from the impact. He reacted by throwing his hands up to clutch his injured nose but he accidently punched Zoro's nose and caused another nosebleed. The swordsman grunted and flew back on the floor panting heavily at the sudden events. Vivi hearing the disturbance ran into the tent. She saw an unconscious Zoro who had a freefalling nosebleed while Ace stared at her in surprise trying to stop his nosebleed but looked like he was trying to hide it. Blood rushed to Vivi s face as all the pieces came together, IN HER MIND. Nosebleeds, unconscious Zoro, hiding the nosebleed, and a panting Zoro!

She pointed a finger at Ace and whispered loudly

"You were doing the naughty with Bushido-san!"

Suddenly a nosebleed busted from the princess's nose and she squealed and ran outside.

Ace stood there with his mouth opened and thought at what Vivi saw. He suddenly laughed but stopped when he saw the panting boy in the floor. He picked him up and placed him gently on the mat. Damn Zoro was burning up. Ace called the ship's doctor and left the tent so the doctor could have more room. He smirked and stared at the night sky. You are not off the hook yet Zoro


	3. Chapter 3

This is the last chapter and I would like to thank the wandering swordsman mizuki hikari for your reviews they made me bust my ass to finish this last chapter. on a side note a friend told me that she thought this was going to be a Yaoi fic at first. The thing is though I don't know how to write Yaoi...yet hahahaha so maybe Ill write another version of this with Ivy's thoughts actually being true lol. But in the meantime if someone would like to give this a shot of yaoi just give me a shootout so I can read it ^_^

When Chopper walked out of the tent he was immediately ambushed by Ace and Luffy. Numerous questions were asked and Chopper was sure that Luffy asked if he should bring some sake to make Zoro better.

"OIII!" Chopper yelled the two stared surprised at the doctor's outburst and stopped asking questions.

"He just needs rest and a dosage of medicine every three hours" Chopper firmly nodded his head.

Luffy and Ace nodded their heads in agreement. Luffy puffed his cheeks and pouted."Man he pretended to be fine when he was the worst out of all of us. I hope he doesn't make a habit out of this."

Ace ruffled Luffy's hair which he received a huge rubber grin that he had to grin back to. When his eyes laid on the tent and who it contained his grin fell. Ace stared at his younger brother's crew who all seemed to be sleeping peacefully for once since the flu had attacked.

"Hey Luffy I'm going to head to bed I advise you to do the same." Ace said while walking to the tent.

Luffy nodded and ran to his mat and fell face first into it already asleep before he hit the mat. Ace chuckled man that kid was something else. Thinking about another kid who was something else, he walked into the tent getting ready to scold Zoro. When he opened the flap of the tent, what he saw made his shoulders and face fall. Zoro was on his mat still but his eyes were closed shut in pain and he was grinding his teeth on his headband which was ripped away from his head. His head was plastered with sweat. He arched his back and his scream was muffled by the headband.  
Ace was stunned and paralyzed with shock for a few seconds. When another scream was muffled he moved into action. He grabbed Zoro's head and rested it on his lap. He turned his head to call Chopper when Zoro grabbed his wrist his head shaking his head from left to right. With shaking hands he took out the headband and whispered

"It's just a symptom it can't be helped." His eyes widen and he shoved the headband back in his mouth grinding it and muffling a scream while his back arched as pain ripped through his body.

"We can sedate you and you won't feel the pain please let me call Chopper"

Zoro shook his head " I don't like the feeling afterwards and since were so close to the kingdom I need to be in control of everything.

Ace looked crestfallen damn this kid would not do anything to help himself. As much as he wanted to argue he too hated the cruddy feeling when being sedated. Suddenly he had idea and rummaging through his backpack he found what he looking for. He brought out the syringe and a bottle with a midnight blue liquid in it. He poked the syringe in the liquid and absorbed the mysterious liquid. He tapped the shot to make sure no air bubbles were in there.  
He turned to Zoro who was panting on his mat looking miserable.

"Oii Zoro stay still" Ace ordered

Zoro turned to Ace and saw the syringe "What the hell I said I didn't want to be sedated" Zoro panted

Ace ignoring him grabbed Zoro's neck and turned it to the side so his neck was easy to stick the needle in. This was a powerful drug and Ace learned from experience that if injected into the neck the medicine would work faster. Lost in thought he happened to see the swordsman eyes and stopped the needle to inject the medicine.  
Zoro's eyes were full of fear.

"Hey haven't you guys been to the new world yet."  
Zoro shook his head

"No wonder you didn't know what this was then. Ace laughed but stopped when Zoro started coughing violently his body racking.  
He poised the needle and made sure Zoro was listening. "This is basically everything sedation does just without the grogginess."  
Zoro didn't look like he entirely believes Ace So Ace locked eyes with Zoro and going into big brother mode said "I promise you this will make you feel better."

He pushed the needle and injected the medicine. He cringed when Zoro gasped in pain. Ace face palmed him and forgot to warn Zoro of the burning feeling of the medicine. Zoro's body Tensed but gradually his shoulders slumped and his face fell from his painful expression "Thanks Ace" Zoro said smiling

"No problem kid" Ace fell on his mat and was about to fall asleep when the question he wanted to ask Zoro burned his brain. He checked Zoro who was still awake.

"Hey Zoro"

"hmph" Zoro replied

"Why the hell didn't you rest with the rest of the crew when you knew you were sick? Ace asked

"They needed me so I just pushed my sickness aside and helped my crew "Zoro said bluntly

"As much as that sounds cool the bottom line is that you're an idiot" Ace joked

"Che I would think you would understand" Zoro mumbled

"Whys that"

"Because of the Blackbeard guy, you're trying to defeat him because of what he did. He killed one of your crewmembers and now you're taking the responsibility on yourself."

Ace pushed himself up and leaned on his hands.  
'Yeah but I'm the commander so that's wh-"

"I'm the first mate" Zoro interrupted.

Ace stopped and finally had to chuckle "I'm glad you are the first mate, you'll take good care of my brother"

Zoro just grunted

"Hey Zoro"

"Yeah"

"Would you ever sacrifice yourself for the crew?" Ace asked lowly but with intensity.

Zoro stood quiet for a few seconds before answering. "Yeah I would"

There was a silence "What about you" Zoro now asked

"What about me" Ace oblivious to the question he just asked moments ago.

"Would you ever sacrifice yourself for your crew or Luffy?"

"Luffy without a doubt, the crew too"

Zoro nodded and muttered "That won't happen though; we are all strong and still getting stronger. We won't ever be put that in situation"

"Yeah I'm the second command of Whitebeard and Luffy has you as a first mate. Yeah that will never happen."

The two men began to fall asleep when Ace started laughing and Zoro turned to see what's so funny

"What"

"They say when you say such things you have to knock on wood or you jinx yourself but look at us were in the middle of a desert surrounded by san-"  
Ace stopped midsentence and had a nose bubble and snored quietly.  
Zoro chuckled. He didn't believe in jinxes or that kind of junk.  
He and Ace would never be in that situation in the first place they were in the age of pirates, and he knew he would never be in that situation because he promised to never lose again.  
Zoro smiled at the last thought before the drug consumed him.

If only they knew how wrong they were.

The end T_T


End file.
